Despite worries that the bill would be applied to stifle valid criticism, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has signed laws on internet restriction including making some online behavior illegal.
A politician introduced the legislation, which was approved by the legislature in September, arguing that it was vital to penalise people who use computers to harm others while remaining anonymous.
That lawmaker argued in his bill that the “enjoyment of the right to privacy is being affected by the abuse of online and social media platforms through the sharing of unsolicited, false, malicious, hateful and unwarranted information.”
The new legislation tightens up a contentious 2011 law that addressed cyber abuse. The bill was approved by Museveni on Thursday, a presidential spokeswoman said.
The proposal suggests jail penalties of up to 10 years in various circumstances, including those involving charges involving the sharing or intercepting of information without authorisation as well as the transfer of information about a person without that person’s consent.
In a nation where many of Museveni’s opponents frequently voice their concerns on Twitter and other social media platforms because they have been unable to organise physical rallies for years, opponents of the bill claim it would suppress freedom of expression.
According to a study by the watchdog organisation Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa, or CIPESA, the bill is “a blow to online civil freedoms in Uganda.”
One group that encouraged Museveni to oppose the law was the Committee to Protect Journalists because of its potential to curtail journalistic freedom.
“Ugandan legislators have taken the wrong turn in attempting to make an already problematic law even worse. If this bill becomes law, it will only add to the arsenal that authorities use to target critical commentators and punish independent media,” the group’s Muthoki Mumo said in a statement after lawmakers passed the bill.
In this East African nation, Museveni, 78, has been in charge since 1986. He was elected to his current term last year.
Many of Museveni’s detractors frequently characterize his administration as dictatorial, despite the fact that some Ugandans support him and thank him for restoring some sense of peace and economic stability.